Chapter Review - the Grapes of Wrath (ch. 30)

Chapter 30

118. What fruitless adjustment do the Joads attempt to hold the damage caused by nature? What point is Steinbeck making by discussing this circumstance? The floodwater crept higher and higher and it would soon spill over the threshold. Pa Joad thinks that they ought to build a levee but Wainwright urgers that it's time to get out. Unfortunately, Rose of Sharon goes into labor and they are forced to build a bank. Most of the neighbors' men grab shovels and start to dig and this reiterates one of Steinbeck's thematic points concerning the bond between a human family and the need to help others.

119. What are the circumstances that accompany Rose of Sharon's difficult delivery and what is the outcome of all the efforts made by the family? Inside the boxcar, Rose of Sharon, along with the help of Ma ad Mrs. Wainwright, struggle to get her baby born. Outside, a big cottonwood tree topples into the stream, tearing a breach in the bank and the men are forced to scatter. Rose of Sharon's baby finally emerges but unfortunately, it is not alive.

120. Explain the significance of Uncle John's contribution to resolving the tragedy Rose of Sharon suffered. Uncle John refuses to bury the dead baby and carries the baby's apple-crate coffin to a stream alongside the road. He sets the box into the current and say's fiercely, "Go down an' tell 'em. Go down in the street an' rot an' tell 'em that way." We assume that Uncle John wasn't the world to know of the migrants' piteous condition.

121. The Joads tried their best to comfort Rose of Sharon in her time of despair. Despite her protests that she was okay, they went out of their way to keep her comfortable and Ma Joad provided emotional support to the best of her ability.

122. The Joads march up the highway and find dry refuge in a hillside barn. Off in a dim corners of the barn lay a weak and starving man. The man's little boys explains that his father hasn't eaten in six days and is on the verge of death.

123. Once again, we see the importance of helping others and it reminds us of Casy's theory about how all men have one big soul that everyone is a part of.